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Climate change has become an
environmental phenomenon that
humans may be unable to reverse,
and as such it is necessary to deal
with the challenges it creates. At the
UN’s conferences on climate change,
signatory countries have been urged
to redirect aid to help the world’s
least developed countries (LDCs) in
adapting to the impacts brought on
by climate change. The Nairobi Work
Programme, for instance, is currently
putting words into action, and asking
that industrialized nations take the
initiative to help LDCs in building
the capacity to cope with climate
change, with key tasks including
climate and environmental risk
assessment and prevention.
Strengthening Capacity to
Adapt to Climate Change,
Developing Renewable
Energy and Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Projects
The TaiwanICDF launched its
Capability Enhancement in Using
Geographic Information Systems in
Central America—Nicaragua in 2010
in order to assist its partner country
in building disaster prevention,
relief and recovery capabilities. The
project integrates advanced space
and remote sensing, geographic
information systems (GIS) and
global positioning system (GPS)
technologies from Taiwan, helping
Nicaragua to carry out advanced
monitoring of the weather and natural
environment. In times of disaster,
such technologies have been used
to monitor large-scale environmental
des t r uc t i on , comp l emen t i ng
everyday functions that have helped
the Nicaraguan government in
maintaining an effective handle on
land use and change, and serving
as an important tool with which to
monitor the environment, conserve
forests, manage changes in land use
and support disaster prevention.
Among the UN’s post-2015
Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), environmental sustainability
targets remain an important theme
for international cooperation and
development. As part of this,
the recommended tasks and
indicators are becoming more finely
specialized, requiring enterprises to
shoulder greater responsibility for
environmental sustainability. There is
also a need to develop partnerships
between society and government
in order to address everything from
regional and domestic environmental
p r o t e c t i o n t o g l o b a l - s c a l e
environmental issues. In the future,
cooperation between the public and
private sectors should become the
norm.
The Green Energy Special Fund
(GESF) established between the
TaiwanICDF and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) defines a
number of investment priorities
based around municipal and
environmental infrastructure, with
funding for sub-projects involving
LED street lights, solar energy and
energy-saving public transportation.
In addition to providing leverage
to elevate Taiwan’s visibility in
Eas t e r n Eu rope and Cen t r a l
Asia, this can also help Taiwan to
expand its markets in industries
in which it is strong, such as ICT,
solar photovoltaic technologies
and LED-based energy-saving
lighting. To respond to the SDGs’
recommenda t i ons rega rd i ng
the promotion of environmental
sustainability via public and private
sector cooperation, the project’s
implementation framework is based
around tripartite cooperation among
financial institutions, development
assistance organizations and partner
country governments.
The TaiwanICDF will continue to
assist partner countries in building
the capacity to adapt to climate
change. Providing technical know-
how on conservation, we will continue
to develop assistance programs
relating to renewable energy
and greenhouse gas emissions.
Regarding the serious problems
caused by climate change, including
food crises and the depletion of
water resources, and given the
fact that a number of our partner
countries are environmentally fragile
island nations or lack self-sufficiency
in food production, the design of
future agricultural projects will list
climate change as an important
risk, and we will marshal Taiwan’s
advanced ICT, water resource
management and renewable energy
technologies to design programs
suited to local circumstances,
helping partner countries adapt
to changes brought on by climate
change and seizing this opportunity
to develop sustainable agriculture.
Environmental Protection
The TaiwanICDF has sent GIS instructors to
Nicaragua to assist in training professionals
and building analytical capacity.